Employee Engagement at Smaller Businesses

All businesses strive to engage their employees—but some face particular challenges. For smaller companies, where budgets are more restrictive, it can be tough to know just what you can do to keep your workforce committed and motivated.

But you don’t have to have big-company resources to keep your team members engaged. Here are a few employee engagement methods that can work well even in the smallest of businesses.

Customize Your Incentives

Your company benefits package might include any number of incentives—but it’s important to remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution here.

Instead of spending money on standard incentives that only some of your employees want, provide some custom options.

Incentives work best—and offer the most bang for buck—when you tailor them to your employees. That’s something any company can do, including the small company or the growing company.

Give Your Employees a Voice

Another way to boost employee engagement: Help your team members to feel like they truly have a voice within your company.

Make sure to hold brainstorming sessions where all ideas are respected. Provide different channels for employees to provide their feedback.

This doesn’t mean you have to act on every single idea that comes your way; just listen and make sure your employees know that you value their perspective.

Create a Sense of Mission

Here’s a way to boost engagement without spending a dime: Help your employees to understand that they are part of something bigger than themselves.

Articulate your company’s mission and its short- and long-term objectives. Get buy-in from your team members, and ask for their feedback. Most importantly, clarify the ways in which each employee in each role contributes to the big picture.

Bottom line: Show your team members that what they do matters very much to the big picture.

Boosting Engagement—Even in a Small Business

No matter the size of your company, it’s important to engage your employees—and with these tips, you can make progress, even if your company is a small one.

I’d love to talk with you more about employee engagement and how it can be achieved at your company. Reach out to me today!

Dr. Rick Goodman is known for helping organizations, corporations, and individuals with systems and solutions that encourage engagement, resulting in increased profits and productivity without having the challenges of micromanaging the process. His clients include Heineken, AT&T, Boeing, Cavium Networks, IBM, Hewlett Packard, and Franklin Templeton Investments.

Dr. Rick Goodman

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